Rhubarb Schnapps

So now that I've made rhubarb crumble, rhubarb jam, rhubarb crumble, rhubarb chutney and rhubarb crumble I was searching round for ideas and came across a few people who had made rhubarb schnapps. This sounded like a great idea, especially as it would be ready for the planned camping trips during the hot summer we've been promised.
The same recipe was used on both erin's kitchen and the accidental scientist, a simple looking looking procedure from Nigella Lawson's How to be a Domestic Goddess: Baking and the Art of Comfort Cooking.

See here for the recipe.

Recipe Costs

£6.22 1kg rhubarb (equivalent cost, mine was free)
£0.28 300g granulated sugar
£11.19 1l vodka

£17.69 Total (£11.47without buying the rhubarb)
£17.69 per litre of schnapps (£11.47 without buying the rhubarb - peach schnapps costs £14.27 at ocado)

The method couldn't really be easier, it took me longer to pick and trim the rhubarb into the compost heap than it did to follow the instructions.

I raided the cupboard and turfed some pasta out from a large preserving jar, then stuffed it full of the chopped rhubarb. Raw rhubarb has an indescribably lovely fresh smell which I am hoping will come through in the finished drink.


Sugar in next, I had to temporarily take out some of the rhubarb so I could fit it in, hence the above picture looking a bit like one of those coloured sand in a jar things you can get at the seaside.

I managed to top the jar up with about 850ml of the cheapest vodka I could find, I guess I'll mix the remainder in once the recommended six weeks is up and I'm bottling it.
By all accounts this will turn out to be a lovely pink colour and taste just perfect mixed with sparkling white wine. I'll watch it carefully as it has to be regularly removed from it's hiding place under the stairs and given a good shake.

Recipe Timings

15 minutes Preparation
6 weeks Standing

Taste Test

This will have to wait until the summer.

Rhubarb Schnapps Recipe

This recipe is adapted from the one in Nigella Lawson's How to be a Domestic Goddess: Baking and the Art of Comfort Cooking.

Ingredients

1kg rhubarb
300g granulated sugar
1litre vodka (cheapest you can find)

Method

See here for pictures of the method.

Chop the rhubarb into 2cm pieces
Mix in a steralised jar with the sugar and vodka
Leave in a cool dark place for between six weeks and six months, shaking well occasionally.
Strain and bottle.
Serve neat or with fizzy water / wine.

Makes about 850ml

Rhubarb Chutney Labels

Managed to squeeze some time in a busy week to do a label for the recent Rhubarb Chutney.

Rhubarb Chutney

As part of using up the ongoing glut of rhubarb in the garden, and having already made rhubarb and ginger jam, chutney was next on the list. I never usually make chutney at this time of year, it tends to be the sort of thing I submit vegetables to at the end of their life, such as green tomatoes, huge marrows and windfall apples. It seems slightly unfair on the excited spring shoots to confine them to several hours of simmering in vinegar, but we do get through a lot of chutney over the year and a new flavour will be eagerly looked forward to when it's ready.

The recipe I used was adapted from the one at the thefoody.com, as recommended on the grow your own forums.

See here for the recipe.

Recipe Costs

£9.34 1.5kg rhubarb (equivalent cost, mine was free)
£2.06 1500g dark brown soft sugar
£1.15 900ml vinegar (malt)
£0.55 425g sultanas
£0.36 75g chopped dried apricots
£0.40 40g root ginger
£ 0.01 30g salt
£0.30 30g garlic
£0.10 1 chilli
£0.01 2 tsp peppercorns
£0.90 3 lemons, peel only
£15.18 Total (£5.84 without buying the rhubarb)
£5.06 per kg of jam (£1.94 without buying the rhubarb - 30% of the cost of equivalent at ocado)

I made half as much again as the original recipe, mainly because I enthusiastically picked too much rhubarb. I find adapting a recipe like this isn't a problem with chutney, I'd be a bit careful doing the same with jam as it can be tricky to get large quantities up to temperature quick enough. The rhubarb was chopped into quite fine slices, about 1cm, as I didn't want the end result to be too stringy.
Substituting some of the sultanas for apricots was inspired by seeing several recipes containing apricots or dates, I imagine they complement the rhubarb well and add more variety than the standard sultanas. We've been mixing our own muesli lately so have a good stock of dried fruit in the cupboard.


A nice large amount of garlic went in to the pot, it was getting on for two heads, leaving us with only one head of homegrown left. The lemon peel was taken off some lemons from the freezer, I'd picked these up in the out-of-date section at the supermarket a few weeks ago. Not having any cayenne pepper I chucked in a finely chopped chilli, I'm sure given the volume being made it would be fine to add a few more if you liked it hot.


The ginger, lemon and peppercorns went in the muslin with the garlic, chilli and salt joining the fruit, sugar and vinegar in the Preserving Pan.I'd got the large pan off the top shelf in the kitchen where it had been collecting sticky dust, as I figure it's best to use stainless steel when making chutney, especially with something as acidic as rhubarb. The non stick ones would probably not have suffered too much but I don't really like the thought of Rhubarb and Teflon Chutney.


After several hours of simmering the chutney looked thick enough to pot, it's fine to have a small amount of liquid in the top of the jars as this is absorbed during the 3 months of maturing time. The chutney looked very rich and dark as it went into the jars, I shall look forward to tasting it in August, preferably outside with a nice lump of cheese.


Recipe Timings

0.5hrs Preparation
2 hrs simmering
0.5 hr Potting

Taste Test

This will have to wait until August.

Rhubarb Chutney Recipe

This recipe is adapted from the one at the thefoody.com, as recommended on the grow your own forums.

Ingredients

1500g rhubarb
1500g dark brown soft sugar
900ml vinegar (malt)
425g sultanas
75g chopped dried apricots
40g root ginger
30g salt
30g garlic
1 chilli
2 tsp peppercorns
3 lemons, peel only

Method

See here for pictures of the method.

Finely chop the rhubarb and garlic.
Crush the root ginger and place it with the peppercorns and lemon peel in a piece of muslin and tie with string.
Place all of the ingredients into a large saucepan and bring to the boil.
Simmer gently, stir frequently, until the mixture thickens.
Remove the muslin bag.

Pot in steralised jars.

Makes about 3kg
Leave for 3 months to mature before using.

Rhubarb Marmalade Recipe

image source wikimedia commons
This recipe is adapted from the one at the Rhubarbinfo website.

Ingredients

2 litres chopped rhubarb (8 cups)
2 oranges
900g sugar
1 lemon
50g finely chopped preserved ginger

Method

Mix the rhubarb and sugar and let it stand overnight.

Thinly slice the rind from oranges and lemon, cover with cold water and bring to a boil. Simmer for 15 minutes or until tender, drain, set aside.

Remove pith from oranges and lemon and chop the pulp, add to rhubarb. In a non aluminium saucepan bring to a full rolling boil.
Reduce heat and cook for about 10 minutes, until a setting point is reached.

(Setting point can be judged by pouring a little of the jam mixture onto a cold saucer and leaving to cool for a few minutes. If a skin has formed and the jam wrinkles when pushed with a finger it has reached setting point. If it stays runny and does not have a skin then boil for longer.)

Remove from heat, add ginger and cooked citrus rind.

Stir for 5 minutes then skim any foam.

Pot in steralised jars.

Makes about 1.75 litres

Note on untested recipes

I have not tried this recipe, but plan to in the future. It would be good to hear from anyone who uses it.

Ten Facts About Rhubarb

image source wikimedia commons

1. The edible stalks of the Rhubarb plant (Rheum rhabarbarum) are technically a vegetable.

2. The rhubarb plant is a herbaceous perennial and, in temperate climates, is one of the earliest vegetable crops, usually in April.

3. The plant is native to Asia and grows wild along the banks of the River Volga.

4. Rhubarb became popular as a food in the 17th Century when cheap sugar became available.

5. Rhubarb can be stored in a plastic bag in the fridge for 2 - 3 weeks.

6. Rhubarb can be frozen raw, or blanched for 1 minute in boiling water, or stewed to take up less space.

7. Rhubarb can be used as a laxative.

8. You can buy Rhubarb and Custard sweets at www.aquarterof.co.uk

9. Rhubarb leaves are considered toxic, but a human would have to eat about 5kg of bitter leaves to reach a lethal dose.

10. There is an amazing amount of information about growing and eating rhubarb at The Rhubarb Compendium website

Rhubarb and Ginger Jam

Rhubarb was one of the first things we planted in our new vegetable garden when we moved in. I don't think I have ever bought rhubarb in the shops, and had therefore probably not cooked with it since leaving home. Now every year (apart, for some, in the breastfeeding ones) we can get very excited about the first new shoots and then the sudden abundance. It does very well in our clay soil, and the surplus is often given away in an attempt to limit the amount of crumble consumed (for weight reasons, as I can easily eat a bowl cold for breakfast).


This was the first time I had tried preserving with it, the recipe with ginger was enticing, as I have made wonderful marrow and ginger jam before. The addition of crystallised ginger was a good excuse to have a go at making that as well. The recipe from the "Good Housekeeping" Cookery Book which was on the veg plotting blog, seemed to be the classic.
See here for the recipe.

Recipe Costs

£6.85 1.1kg rhubarb (equivalent cost, mine was free)
£1.03 1.1kg sugar
£0.60 2 Lemons
£0.24 25g root ginger
£1.36 100g crystallised ginger
£10.08 Total (£3.23 without buying the rhubarb)
£5.04 per kg of jam (£1.62 without buying the rhubarb - 33% of the cost of equivalent at Tesco)

This jam was a dream to make, chopping rhubarb is particularly pleasurable, something to do with the noise it makes.
The recipe said to leave the rhubarb and sugar mix to stand overnight, so I did, but couldn't resist stirring a few times. When returned to in the morning the sugar had drawn out a lot of liquid resulting in chunks of rhubarb floating in sugar syrup - half way to jam already.


All of the crystallised ginger was finely chopped and added in with the fresh crushed ginger in a muslin. This seemed like a lot of ginger for the amount of jam, but the end result wasn't overpowering.



The boiling process was more frantic than some jams, the rhubarb broke down quickly, leaving it's characteristic strands. It might be an idea to chop the rhubarb into smaller chunks to start with, if you're not keen on stringy jam. Setting point was soon reached, no need for hours of simmering with this jam.



Recipe Timings

0.5hrs Preparation
overnight standing
0.25hrs chopping ginger
0.5hrs first boil
0.5hrs to reach setting point
0.5 hr Potting

Taste Test
I had though this could be overpowered by the ginger in it, but although it's obviously there, it's actually quite subtle until you bite into a small lump of crystallised ginger. The lumps of ginger have remained firm and crunchy, and although it would still be a tasty jam if they were left out, I think it's worth the effort of making and adding them.

Rhubarb and Ginger Jam Recipe

This is taken from the 1995 edition of the "Good Housekeeping" Cookery Book.

Ingredients

1.1kg (2.5lb) rhubarb (prepared weight), chopped
1.1kg (2.5lb) sugar
juice of 2 lemons
25g (1oz) root ginger
100g (4oz) preserved stem ginger, chopped

Method

See here for pictures of the method.

Place the rhubarb, sugar and lemon juice in a large bowl in alternate layers, cover and leave overnight.

Next day, peel and bruise the root ginger slightly with a rolling pin, and tie it in a piece of muslin. Put the rhubarb mixture in a preserving pan with the muslin bag, bring to the boil and boil rapidly for 15 minutes, stirring frequently.

Remove the muslin bag from the pan, add the stem ginger and boil for a further 5 minutes.

Test for set, and when setting point is reached remove any scum with a slotted spoon, pot and cover.

Makes about 2kg (4.5lb)